Udayagiri ("Risen Mountain") is an
archaeological-historical site 10 miles north of
Sanchi (another famous historical site), and few miles from Vidisha--now
a small town, but 1500 years ago a royal capital. Udayagiri is
famous for a series of rock-cut caves and temples dating back to the Gupta
Period (350-550 CE), a formative era for Hindu religious ideas. Such
visible projects may have reflected the Guptas' personal piety, but were
also clear political statements to display their ruling power.

These caves were typically cut from the rock
starting at the ceiling and working down (no scaffolding needed), and
included architectural details typical of constructed buildings.

This photo (Nov. 2005) shows the exterior of
one of these temples.

The most famous carving at Udayagiri is a
five-foot (or so) tall statue of Vishnu's Boar Avatar (here show rescuing
the Earth, who is hanging on his tusk), with the worshipful masses standing
in homage by the sides. This image was in the personal temple of King
Chandra Gupta II (ruled 376-415 C.E.), and his choice of the Varaha
Avatar carries enormous symbolic weight.

A recurring motif in the stories of Vishnu's avatars is
the defeat of evil and chaos, and the reestablishment of order and balance
in the universe. After defeating the Shaka kingdom, Chandra Gupta II
became the overlord ruling over much of north India, and his patron deity
surely represents how he saw himself--as a manifestation of Vishnu on
earth bringing order to the world through exercising his power and righteous
rule.

It's a beautiful sculpture--that conveys all sorts of
images of God's power and majesty, and is well worth the trip to see it.
I'm sure that this was cut out of the rock, but it's not in a cave so much
as under an overhanging shelf of rock.

November 2005

On the wall to the right of the boar sculpture
are some smaller panels showing figures of various deities; this one is
Durga slaying the Buffalo Demon Mahishasura. Here Durga is
portrayed with multiple arms holding weapons (she is usually shown like
this, as a sign of her divine power); one of her arms is holding the
buffalo's head, which is she about to cut off with the other.

Most modern Hindu temples have images of a
variety of deities in addition to the primary deity, and the presence of
these panels clearly shows that this practice is very old. Although I
am reluctant to give one single explanation what this means, Hindus clearly
accept the existence of multiple gods and goddesses (or perhaps multiple
FORMS of gods and goddesses), and respect them all, even if only one is
their primary object of worship.

November 2005

Here's another figure of a deity (which is
just to the left of the Durga figure above--you can see a bit of one of her
hands at upper left.

The four arms and high crown lead me to guess that this is
another image of Vishnu perhaps showing his Vamana (Dwarf) Avatar.

In this story a powerful asura named Bali gained
control over the world, and Vishnu appeared to him in the form of a Dwarf,
asking for three paces worth of land so that he could perform a sacrifice
(this would be at the lower right). When Bali agreed, the Dwarf grew
to cosmic size, and in two paces measured out the whole of the heavens and
the earth, and with the third pushed Bali down to the under world (here
doing it with his hand).

This story not only reinforces that that Vishnu restores
balance to the universe, but also shows how he uses cunning and trickery for
the benefit of the world (another common motif in many stories about
Vishnu).

November 200

Here's another figure of a deity (which is
just to the left of the Durga figure above--you can see a bit of one of her
hands at upper left.

The four arms and high crown lead me to guess that this is
another image of Vishnu perhaps showing his Vamana (Dwarf) Avatar.

In this story a powerful asura named Bali gained
control over the world, and Vishnu appeared to him in the form of a Dwarf,
asking for three paces worth of land so that he could perform a sacrifice
(this would be at the lower right). When Bali agreed, the Dwarf grew
to cosmic size, and in two paces measured out the whole of the heavens and
the earth, and with the third pushed Bali down to the under world (here
doing it with his hand).

This story not only reinforces that that Vishnu restores
balance to the universe, but also shows how he uses cunning and trickery for
the benefit of the world (another common motif in many stories about
Vishnu).

November 2005

Later rulers carved their own temples into
the nearby caves, and this one (to Shiva caught my eye because of the
inscription carved on the side of one of the "pillars" (remember that this
wasn't a pillar brought in, but remaining part of the original hillside from
which the rest had been cut away). Note the fluting and sharp edges in
the carving, which likely have been found as decorative elements in built-up
temple pillars. This pillar caught my eye because of the inscription,
and particularly the date (vikram samvat 1093=1036/37 C.E.).

This temple was cut over 600 years after Chandra Gupta
II's reign, which clearly shows that Udayagiri was still an important site.
The person behind this was likely trying to call up comparisons between
himself and Chandra Gupta II.

Aside from the date I can only recognize letters at this
point, so translating it will have to wait for a little while.

Here's the image of Shiva in the cave with
the pillar above--fronted his faithful retainer, the bull Nandi (whom this
picture shows from the back). At the far left is a linga, the
aniconic symbol of Shiva, along with two other statues beside it. All
the figures have been decorated with marigolds, but I'm not sure whether
this was really evidence of continuing worship there--the cave is controlled
by the ASI, and locked with steel mesh gates--or whether this was a strategy
to generate offerings for the caretakers.

One
noteworthy thing is that this temple is very small--in my memory no more
than 8 by 10 feet. Hindu temples are primarily homes for the gods, and
not meeting-places for a congregation, and so a small space can do very
well. Of course, cutting even a small cave out of a hillside would be
a prodigious task!

November 2005

The Udayagiri caves are set right
beside Udayagiri village--of which this photo shows one of the lanes.
The building style of these houses was very typical for the region--brick or
masonry walls, timber rafters, and flat stones for the roof. I was
very impressed by how clean and neat everything looked--no trash, no
clutter, everything very neat.

The houses all looked freshly painted, which may have been
done as part of the preparations for the festival of Diwali, which had
fallen two weeks before. For Diwali people typically clean and repair
their houses, and may get them painted as well. Since Diwali falls
after the end of the rainy season, this makes it a good time of year to
paint.